Cast Iron Motive (The Cast Iron Cooking Mysteries Book 4) (8 page)

“If your gut is telling you that, then I’ll have your back,” Annie answered quietly. “You know that.”

“Even against Della?” I asked.

“Even against Kathleen,” she replied. It was the only answer I would accept from her. It had been the two of us against the world since our births, and I hoped that it would end that way in the end, but not until we were both old and gray, a pair of ancient, cranky geezers.

“Thank you. Now, let’s go see if Della can clear things up for us any.”

Chapter 10: Annie

I
wasn’t all that thrilled with the prospect of asking our aunt such hard questions about the things she’d recently told us, but I knew in my heart that Pat was right. We couldn’t let Aunt Della off the hook just because we were family. What we had to ask her might alienate her from us again, but it was a risk that we had to take. I was steeling myself for the confrontation when I was surprised to see someone leaving Della’s house as we arrived.

I was getting ready to introduce myself when the older, rail-thin woman turned and found us approaching. She frowned for a second, and then sunlight appeared on her face. “Annie! Patrick! I’m so glad to finally get to meet you!”

She was certainly enthusiastic. “It’s good to meet you, too,” I said. “And you are?”

She blushed a little. “I’m Henrietta Long. Your aunt and I have been great friends forever.”

“You ran the Winter Wonderland together,” Pat said. “She’s told us about you, too.”

“Only good things, I hope,” she said with a giggle, though she was clearly older than Della. It sounded odd coming from her.

“What brings you by the house?” I asked her.

“We were going to settle up all of the accounts from the fundraiser, but silly me, I left the ledger books at home. None of those fancy computers for me! Given your visit, we’ve decided to wait until tomorrow to go over the final numbers. Are you staying long? She’d really love it if you could. I know it’s probably a huge imposition, but it would mean so much to her.”

Wow, this woman was good. We’d only just met her, and here she was making us feel guilty for planning such a short stay with our aunt. I had to laugh. “We’ll stay as long as we can, but we have a business to run.”

“She’s told me all about the Iron. It sounds delightful. I’d love to see it someday.”

I didn’t see how that was possible, given the fact that our aunt had never stepped foot in the place, but I was willing to go along with the ruse just to get this woman gone. “We like it,” I said. “Sorry to cut this short, but we really need to talk to our aunt now.”

“Of course. I was just on my way. Have a wonderful day.”

“You, too,” Pat said, shaking his head a little as he did. After Henrietta was gone, he looked at me and rolled his eyes, something that never ceased to make me laugh. I knew my brother’s opinion of the woman without him having to say a word.

Della was surprised to find us back so soon. “That was fast.”

“We need to ask you a few things,” Pat said gravely.

“That sounds serious. What have you heard?”

He didn’t answer her question, and neither did I as I asked her a question of my own. “Della, do you honestly believe that Davis is in love with you?”

“It’s clear by the way he looks at me, and the man’s certainly asked me out enough times! Why, did he deny that?”

“No, he made it perfectly clear that he asked you, but he said that when you weren’t interested, he dropped it.”

It was clearly a blow to her ego to believe that any man couldn’t fall helplessly in love with her, and then just cast her aside. “You said yourself that he might have done that just to be near me.”

“And you explained that it was more to get a house by the lake than to be close by,” I reminded her. This line of questioning had been my brother’s idea, but that didn’t mean that I wasn’t going to embrace it.

“Is that what he told you? Well, he had more on his mind than just a view. The more I think about it, the more I realize that you are right. He did it to get closer to me.”

“Also, we met Serena Jefferson while we were in city hall,” Pat said. “She seems nice, and she smiled brightly when she found out that we were related. She seemed to genuinely like you.”

Della frowned for a moment before she replied. “Of course she’d present that front to you, but I know the truth.”

It was pretty clear that we weren’t going to be able to shake our aunt’s beliefs.

Pat must have thought so, too, because his next question took us in a completely different direction. “Cheryl was most likely killed because of a flashlight that matches the description of the one you said you gave her the night she was murdered.”

“What? Are you sure? I thought they found her in the water. What did my flashlight have to do with that?” The new information seemed to rock her back onto her heels.

“It’s true that she drowned, but the flashlight blow to the back of the head is what sent her into the water, unconscious,” Pat said.

“Why are you telling me this?” she asked, the fright in her voice obvious as her gaze darted from my brother to me. “Do you honestly think that I killed my best friend? Why would I do that?”

“We don’t know,” Pat said, “but hard questions have to be asked.”

“By you? But we’re family!” She was near a breakdown. I could see it in her eyes and hear it in her voice.

“We are. That’s why we’re asking you point blank,” I said calmly. “I’m going to ask you this one time, and then we’ll drop it forever. Aunt Della, did you have anything to do with what happened to Cheryl Simmons?”

“I did not. I swear it on your mother’s grave.”

I could have done without that particular pledge, but I believed her. She might have been deluding herself about the mayor’s intentions and his secretary’s jealousy, but she hadn’t killed her friend. I glanced at Pat, who nodded in agreement when we made eye contact. Della might be a bit of a drama queen, but neither one of us thought that she was a cold-blooded killer.

“Fine. We believe you,” I said. “Let’s just assume for the moment that Davis and Serena are in the clear. Where does that leave us?”

“With just one person, as far as I’m concerned,” Della said.

“The town’s chief of police,” Pat said flatly, clearly unsure of her assessment.

“Most policemen are good people,” Della said, “but it’s no guarantee that all of them are. Cam could have done it if he thought it was me on that path and not Cheryl.”

“I don’t know,” Pat said. “It seems a little farfetched to me.”

“So is murder being committed in our sleepy little town, but it happened nonetheless,” Della said. “If I were you, I’d focus on Cam, but don’t forget about Davis and Serena completely. I know they can both put up convincing fronts, but don’t let them fool you. Davis is a politician at heart, and lying comes easily to him. As for Serena, she’s fooled better people than you two in the past, but she’s not duping me.” Della took a deep breath, and then she continued, “I understand you feeling the need to challenge me, but I didn’t kill my friend, and I’m not losing my mind. Someone is trying to kill me, and if you two don’t do something about it, the next time they are going to succeed. If you waste your time trying to prove that I’m either culpable or downright delusional, than you might as well not be here, because I’m already a dead woman.”

“We’re not going to let that happen,” I said, though I had no idea how I was going to keep that particular promise. “Right, Pat?”

“Not if we can help it,” he amended.

Our assurances seemed to give her some comfort. “That’s all that I can ask. Maybe we should call your sister and see what she thinks,” Della suggested.

“We’re doing fine on our own,” I said. “Kathleen has her own problems, and it wouldn’t be fair to drag her into this. Pat and I are perfectly capable of solving this.”

“I sincerely hope so,” Della said. “Are you hungry, by any chance?”

“We just ate breakfast a few hours ago,” I said.

“Of course you did. Why don’t you come back at noon? I’ll have a meal ready for you then.”

“You don’t have to cook for us, Aunt Della,” I said.

“I understand that, but then again, you both didn’t have to drop everything and come to my aid, either. Let me do this for you.”

“Fine,” I said.

Pat nodded his agreement.

“In the meantime, we have more work to do before then.”

“I know I can count on you,” she said as we left the house once again.

I looked at Pat once we were outside again. “What do you think?”

“She’s either telling us the truth, or she’s deluded herself into believing that it’s all true. I have a feeling that both things might be accurate.”

“What do you mean?”

“What if she honestly believes that Davis is in love with her and that Serena is wickedly jealous of the fact, but neither thing is true? I don’t doubt for a second that she believes every bit of it, but whether that makes it so or not, I have no idea, and there’s no one we can ask.”

“There’s always Chief Cameron,” I said.

Pat shook his head. “I doubt he’s in the mood to share much with us at the moment. We have another source in town, though.”

“Gary White,” I said.

Pat shrugged. “Maybe he knows something, and after all, he offered to help us at breakfast.”

“Why not?” I asked. “What do we have to lose?”

“The list is too long to even discuss,” Pat replied. As he looked back at Della’s house, he said, “If we hadn’t had our late-night visitor, I would be less inclined to believe her about anything, but
someone
was trying to get in last night.”

“That could mean that they’re afraid of something,” I said.

“Sure, but what? Why is Della such a threat to someone?”

“That’s what we need to find out.”

I could see my brother’s eyes light up the moment we walked into Gary White’s hardware store. To me, it looked as though we’d stepped through some kind of magic portal back in time. There were trays and shelves holding nothing but nuts, bolts, washers, and metal things that I couldn’t even begin to identify. Though the weather outside was still frigid, packets of garden seeds were displayed prominently at the front of the store, along with loose seeds stored in wooden sections that were parceled out with aluminum scoops. There were kerosene heater wicks, snow sleds and shovels, and bibbed overalls that hung from the rafters like empty scarecrow starter kits. The floors were stained from years of abuse, gouges filled in darkly and even gaps in the wood where dust must have drifted down to the basement in dirty snowfalls. I was about to say something when I spotted a section that instantly caught my eye.

Gary had cast iron cookware for sale, and not the new, freshly minted stuff that still sported its factory seasoning. This was cast iron from another generation, when the metal was poured thin and true, and the quality couldn’t be touched today. I picked up a Griswold #6 fry pan and marveled that underneath a fine layer of dust, there was a truly magnificent piece of art. There was a tag dangling from the opening in the handle that was hard to read, but as I wiped the dirt from it, I saw that it was for sale for $14.99. Beside it was a cast iron Dutch oven, also an ancient Griswold, and priced at $24.99. Without saying a word to my brother, I took both pieces and walked straight to the register.

“I’d like to buy these, please,” I said.

“What about talking to Gary first?” Pat asked me.

“He can wait,” I said as I showed him the prices.

I was glad that my brother didn’t play poker, because his eyes lit up like Christmas trees when he saw what I’d found, and at what price. I handed the man three twenties, more than enough to cover the purchase price and sales tax, just as Gary approached.

“Doing a little shopping, Annie?” he asked.

“A little,” I said, reaching my hand out for my change and, more importantly, the receipt. Once the transaction was complete, there would be no take-backs, if Gary even realized the bargain I’d just gotten.

The clerk was in the process of handing me my change and the coveted receipt when Gary put a hand on his employee’s and stopped it before it could reach me. “Hang on a second.”

“I’m paying your asking price,” I said. “What’s the problem?”

He ignored me and lifted up what I considered my skillet. When he saw the price on it, he called loudly to the back, “Tommy, come up here, please.”

“I’m helping Mrs. Wilkins right now,” a voice called back.

“Now,” Gary said, and it was clear that he wasn’t messing around.

“Is there a problem?” Pat asked him, but the store owner just held up a hand, demanding that we wait.

A young man in his early twenties came up to the front, looking confused as to why he was being summoned so urgently, but the moment his gaze saw what his boss was holding, he started stammering. “I forgot. I’m sorry. I was going to do it yesterday, but I got distracted.”

Gary turned to me. “Young Thomas was supposed to pull these from inventory yesterday. I have a buyer online that is willing to pay considerably more than the asking price for these two pieces.”

“I’m sorry about that,” I said, “but your cashier rang up the sale and took my money. The transaction is complete as far as I’m concerned.”

“Do you have a receipt?” he asked me, knowing full well that it was still in his cashier’s hand.

“No, but I have witnesses,” I said. I wouldn’t have minded paying more for those pieces, but I didn’t feel as though I should. After all, he ran the store, he priced his inventory, and it wasn’t fair to jack up the price after an offer and acceptance had been made. I wasn’t sure if what he was trying to do was legal or not, but I knew full well that it wasn’t ethical, at least as far as I was concerned.